The Rep Presents a Captivating, Romantic Christmas Entertainment

“Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly” at The Rep comes wrapped up in an cultured and beautiful set, with a cast so elegant and ideal you’ll believe Jane Austen herself was the casting director.

Photo courtesy of The Rep

The play takes place a few days before Christmas approximately two years after the happenings detailed in “Pride and Prejudice.” This stage adaptation brims with the incisive, cutting humor that peppers Austen’s writings. At its core this is a highly romantic story of two people so misfit to the world that they can only belong to each other.

Photo courtesy of The Rep

The story revolves around a Christmas party being held by Elizabeth and her husband Darcy. The two figures at the center of the unusual romantic paring are sister Mary, a bespectacled young lady given to her music, reading and witty, often acerbic reflections on the world and family surrounding her, to which she feels completely unfit. Mary is played by Justine Salata in her Rep debut. Her portrayal is perfection and unquestionably honest.

Photo courtesy of The Rep

Miles G. Jackson is Lord Arthur de Bourgh, the unlikely romantic pairing for Mary, although both are so inept at such matters you’ll wonder how it will ever come about. (But when it does, it’s a moment you will want to stand up and cheer!) Arthur has inherited his family estate and the fortune that goes with it, a fate he does not relish. His penchant for bowing is reflective of an innate sense of self-loathing and uneasiness that is highly comical.

As Act I comes to a closing, the road to romance between Arthur and Mary seems to hit an insurmountable roadblock when a woman bursts into the scenario, claiming to be Arthur’s fiancé.

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Arthur is unaware he has a fiancé, but it will be difficult to convince Mary of that fact.

Photo courtesy of The Rep

I believe “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly” is arguable the best holiday show The Rep has ever produced. It has everything you want in a production of this type and is suitable for practically all ages. It is heartfelt, incurably loveable and perfect for the season.